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Hackneyed Themes
Hackneyed Themes This is an old list some of these haven't been used much recently, though often for good reason. Here is a list of subjects no longer wanted by the editors—unless the theme is given a decidedly new twist—because they have become hackneyed from being done so often. Many such lists have been printed in the various motion-picture trade-papers and the different magazines for writers. We give the tabooed themes that have so far been listed, and others drawn from different sources. A careful study of this list may save you from wasting your time writing a story that has already been done—perhaps two or three times, in one form or another—in every studio. The brother and sister, orphaned in infancy, parted by adoption and reunited in later life. They fall in love, only to discover the blood relationship. The little child stolen by gypsies, and restored to her family in later life, generally by means of a favorite song. The discharged workman who goes to do injury to his former employer, but who performs some rescue instead and gets his job back. The poor man who attends a fashionable dinner. He conceals in his clothing delicacies for his sick wife. A ring or other valuable is lost. He alone of the party refuses to be searched. The valuable is found and his story comes out. The man who assumes his brother's crime for the sake of the girl he loves, and who, he thinks, loves the brother. The child who reunites parted parents or prevents a separation. (7) Baby's shoes. Edison, Vitagraph, Universal and other companies have worked out all the sentiment attached to them. Bannister Merwin, Robert E. Coffey and other authors have reunited separated couples by means of baby's shoes. Don't do it any more. Two suitors for the hand of a girl. They go to one of the parents to decide, or she gives them a common task to perform. One wins by foul means. He is found out, and she marries the other. The convict who escapes and robs an innocent man of his clothes, thereby causing another to appear temporarily as the jail-bird. The story of the girl's name and address written on the egg which is relegated to cold storage for twenty years, then to be discovered by a love-lorn man who seeks out the writer, who by this time has at least one unromantic husband and a brood of children. The pathetic "Mother" play in which Thanksgiving and pumpkin pies tug hard at the heart-strings. The play in which the rich crippled child is contrasted with the poor strong child, and in which the two are brought together and exchange confidences —and money. The husband jealous of his wife's brother, whom he has never seen. The burglar who breaks into a house, to be confronted by his own child, who has been adopted by the family. The policeman who calls on the cook and removes his hat and coat, which are used by another. The child who reunites parents and children separated through an unapproved marriage. The child who redeems the criminal or who saves the discouraged from the downward plunge. (18) The employee who gets an interest in the busi ness, and his employer's daughter, either with or without opposition from the foreman or the junior partner The bad small boy. The sheriff who is rescued by the outlaw and who later allows him to escape, or prevents his being lynched. The revenue officer who falls in love with the moonshiner's daughter, and who is forced to choose between love and duty. The Southern boy who enlists in the Federal army, and is cast out by his father for so doing. Or the young Northerner who, acting as a Federal spy, falls in love with a Southern girl, the daughter of a Confederate officer. There are dozens of variations of the Civil War "brother against brother" plot, but all have been done so often that, unless you can give such a theme a decidedly new "twist," it is much better not to send it out. And note that merely to give the old theme a "Great War" setting is notto render it more acceptable. (23) Stories requiring too much trick photography, and stories based upon "love pills," "foolish powders," and other "influences." "Editors and public tired long ago of the poor boy whose industry at last brought him the hand of his employer's daughter; the pale-faced, sweet-eyed young thing whose heroism in stamping out a fire enabled her to pay off the mortgage ; the recovery of the missing will; the cruel step-mother; answering a prayer which has been overheard; the strange case of mistaken identity; honesty rewarded; a noble revenge; a child's influence; and so on to a long-drawn-out end." 1 In avoiding trite subjects the surest teachers are conunon sense, a wide reading, the constant study of the photoplays seen on the screen, a friendly critic, and the printed rejection slip. And do not forget this most important point: It is not so much the time-worn theme that makes a story hackneyed as it is the threadbare developmentof the theme. A new "twist," a fresh surprise, coming as the climax to an old situation, may redeem its hackneyed character. But when you can combine a fresh theme with a new treatment you have reached the apex of originality. Time spent in working on unhackneyed lines will save you many later heartaches.